Back by popular demand, we will be holding another prof talk by professors and graduate students in the McGill School of Environment.

When: February 18th, 2016 6-8PM

Where: Leacock Building – Room 14

Speakers:

Dr. Raja Sengupta

Topic:

Why Models matter in Environmental Decision Making

Environmental decision-making increasingly relies on computer models of both biophysical and social processes to understand and simulate changes. In some cases, models like General Circulation Models (or GCMs) are fundamental to our understanding of the way our climate is likely to change. In others, we are beginning to explore how models can provide new ways of understanding or predicting environmental change. Sometimes, different models can be integrated to provide answers about complex systems, including those impacted by the anthropogenic factors. We will look at some of the emerging trends in modelling.

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Gabriella Fanous – Graduate Student

Topic:

This presentation will be about the woes of undergrad and the woes of grad school. More specifically, I will talk about about the nitty gritty associated with figuring out summer jobs, research interests, what to do after graduation, as well as some of the realities of graduate school.

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Dr. Julia Freeman

Topic:

MSEUndergraduate research at the intersection of culture and environment: new questions, directions, and potential

This talk considers the MSE capstone course ENVR 401: Environmental Research and how this course speaks to important questions regarding the role for undergraduate applied research in exploring current cultural-environmental challenges. In particular, it examines an ongoing, multi-year collaboration with the Chiefs of Ontario, and examines how 401 projects on behalf of this client may well present a pedagogical opportunity to bring university and First Nations groups together around shared goals and outcomes.

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Victor Frankel – Graduate Student

Topic:

Biological invasions are an irreversible element of the anthropocene. For this reason, it is critical understand the ecological factors that influence their establishment and potential evolution in introduced habitats. Here, I will discuss the transmission ecology and potential rapid evolution of trematode parasites that infect snails, fish birds and or humans in a novel range, the Panama Canal. While these studies on the transmission of parasites have practical applications to understand the spread of diseases of concern to wildlife conservation and human health, they also provide important tests for ecological processes regulating host-parasite interactions and evolutionary theory.

Announcing the EduTOX Video Challenge, a national video contest for youth aged 14 to 22!
EduTOX is about giving young people a voice to promote awareness and action on environmental health. We are looking for creative and compelling short videos that will get people thinking about and taking action on the toxins that we all encounter in our day-to-day lives.
Videos can be submitted by individual or by group, and in any language (with English or French subtitles). There will be 8 winners, who will receive generous scholarships or merchandise. The deadline to participate is March 21st, and the winners will be announced in May. For more information, go to www.edutox.ca or contact the project coordinator at info@edutox.ca.

Every year, the SSMU offers more and more services to the growing undergraduate population. The base fee, which has not been raised in nearly eight years, is now stretched very thin. This means that students with great ideas and the ambition to carry these ideas out are being turned down for lack of funds, and the services we currently offer are becoming increasingly harder to sustain.

We believe that McGill students deserve more from their student society: they deserve a thriving hub for student life, services to support their well-being, and the opportunities to develop skills that they can’t always learn in the classroom. It is important that the SSMU be able to maintain and improve student support in an environmentally, socially, and financially sustainable way.————————————————————————————-Join the yes committee here: http://goo.gl/forms/anOKpeZfipVOTE from January 27th – 29th here: ssmu.simplyvoting.com————————————————————————————–Where will my money be going? Approximately half of the membership fee increase of $5.50 per student per semester will go to addressing the priorities identified by students. Students across campus have noted that the SSMU needs to increase funding and support available to clubs and services, to expand mental health resources, and to improve the bookable space in the SSMU building. Some of the money will go to offset the increased costs at Gerts and the Nest, making it easier for students to run profitable events and fundraisers within the space. Finally, by increasing the number of the jobs that we can offer with a fair wage, the SSMU can not only provide a greater service to the McGill community but we can also increase the number of opportunities for students to develop skills and gain experience while studying.The other half of the membership fee increase will go towards maintaining current SSMU operations, including paying both student and permanent staff, keeping up with building maintenance, and restoring the annual transfer into the capital expenditure reserve fund. Without this fee increase, the SSMU would likely have to cut both permanent and student staff hours, executive portfolios, and more in order to maintain necessary building expenses and avoid the depletion of our capital reserves. This might also translate into increasing costs at Gerts and the Nest, reducing the services we are able to offer to student groups, and raising the costs of attending SSMU run events such as 4 Floors and Faculty Olympics.

MESS wants to provide its students with an area to study, to meet with fellow peers and profs, or just a place to hang out on campus! This year’s MESS Executive Council has a lot of ideas and wants your input to make this space as useful and accessible as possible for MSE students. Please fill out this very short survey to help us do just that: